SCOTLAND Yard "initially resisted" a probe by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the watchdog's deputy chairman has said.

John Wadham said this resistance had delayed his organisation taking over the inquiry into the death of the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician on a Tube train.

But Scotland Yard Chief Sir Ian Blair hit back at allegations of a cover-up over the shooting.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner dismissed the notion that he had tried to block an independent inquiry.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Wadham said the IPCC had secured an "important victory" for its independence in overcoming the Yard's resistance. He also pledged the inquiry would be completed in three to six months.

He said: "It was an important victory for our independence. This dispute has caused delay in us taking over the investigation but we have worked hard to recover the lost ground."

Integrity

But Sir Ian said in an interview with a London newspaper: "These allegations strike to the heart of the integrity of the police and integrity of the Met and I fundamentally reject them. There is no cover-up."

It has also been revealed that Scotland Yard chief Sir Ian Blair wrote to Sir John Gieve at the Home Office in the immediate aftermath of the shooting on July 22.

This was "to clarify the role of IPCC if, as it then appeared", the shooting involved a suicide bomber who had been involved in the previous day's attempted bombings on the London transport network.

"This was because it was crucial that the terrorist investigation took precedence over any IPCC investigation at that time," Scotland Yard said.

The force said this letter had led to "further conversations" that day, where it was agreed that the Yard would hand over the shooting investigation to the IPCC with their officers taking over on the following Monday.

The Yard described this as an "entirely transparent discussion" in the face of an unprecedented situation.

But it has led to allegations of a cover-up and accusations that Sir Ian tried to delay the IPCC's involvement.